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Edmund can see it all at once. Not just the Dufflepuds and the house, but a red string connecting his finger to Caspian’s.
He furrows his brows. “What’s this?” He’s never heard of a string appearing out of thin air, binding two people together, but this entire voyage has been full of stranger things still.
Caspian looks down at the string with the most curious expression. “I have no idea.”
“D’you think it’s got anything to do with what Lucy’s doing in there?” Edmund nods toward the house.
“It must,” Caspian agrees.
Edmund does what any reasonable person would do; he tries to remove the string. Somehow, something prevents him from untying it. It’s as if he can’t touch it; more than that, it seems to be completely intangible. Caspian looks as confused as Edmund feels.
“Have you ever seen anything like this?” Edmund asks him.
“Never.” Caspian gives a tug on the string, but Edmund doesn’t feel a pull; it’s as if the string simply stretches between them. “How strange.”
“We ought to ask the Magician,” Edmund suggests.
So they set off. The Magician isn’t difficult to find; he is, after all, the only human on the island who isn’t a member of their party. When they broach the topic with him, he looks thoughtful. “I have heard of unwitting consequences of spellwork, of course – every Magician knows this risk. But this…” He trails off.
“Have you heard of something like this before, then?” Edmund asks.
The Magician nods. “Once. It’s old magic – magic I could never hope to harness myself.” At their encouraging nods, he continues. “It’s said that for certain people – or every person, depending on who one asks – there is another half, so to speak. A person who you are destined to be with.”
“I’m sorry,” Eustace says from nearby. “Do you mean to say that soulmates are real?”
“Things work differently in Narnia,” Edmund says.
Eustace’s gaze falls to the string binding Edmund to Caspian. “I suppose it only makes sense that the two of you would pair off.”
Edmund intentionally does not ask what on Earth Eustace could possibly mean by that.
Instead, he turns to Caspian. “Let’s go somewhere a bit more private, shall we?”
“Please,” the Magician says, “use my study.”
They take him up on his hospitality and follow him inside.
Once safely inside the study, with the door closed, Caspian begins to pace. “Did you have any idea about this?”
“None at all,” Edmund confirms.
“Soulmates.”
“Perhaps I’m meant to stay. Lucy and Eustace and I. We stayed before.” He can’t keep the hopefulness out of his voice. He’ll miss Susan and Peter, of course, but staying in Narnia sounds too good to be true.
Being torn away from Caspian seems too cruel a fate.
Oh, Edmund has known for a while how he feels about Caspian. It’s become rather impossible to deny, in such close quarters. Worse still, he’s seen Caspian in varying states of undress. Nothing untoward; it’s simply the lack of privacy belowdecks.
It hasn’t done anything to lessen his attraction to him.
On the contrary.
But to think that there’s a chance that Caspian might feel the same – to only learn this so far into their voyage (though who knows how much longer they have to go) – it fills Edmund with a complicated mix of emotions.
“Maybe,” Caspian says, appearing deep in thought. “I can’t imagine Aslan would allow this if He intended for you to leave any time soon.”
“He’s hardly a tame Lion.”
Caspian doesn’t respond immediately. “I have feelings for you,” he says.
Oh. That’s hardly what Edmund expects, but he says, “And I for you.”
Caspian exhales, like this is as much a relief for him as it is for Edmund. Then Caspian searches his face and pulls him in for a kiss.
It’s sweet and teasing, and Edmund melts into it. Caspian is his soulmate; they’re going to spend as much time together as possible.
And Edmund is not going to go back to England when this voyage is over.
Not if he has anything to say about it.
“You know,” Caspian says as they walk back to their party, “I’d thought for sure you’d noticed the way I’d stare at you.”
Edmund laughs. “I was hoping you wouldn’t notice the way I’d stare at you.”
“Is that so?”
“You’re very attractive in smalls.”
Caspian quirks an eyebrow. “You were looking at me in my smalls?”
“Appreciating you,” Edmund corrects.
Caspian grins. “Oh, very well. I’ve done the same for you. Of course. How could I not?”
They reach Lucy first, and she looks worried. “Eustace told me the string is a soulmate connection, but–”
“He’s right, Lu,” Edmund says.
He knows Lucy loves him, that she’ll accept him. And she throws her arms around both of them. “Oh, I’m so relieved! I was worried I’d done something horribly wrong with that spell!”
“I think it’s fair to say that you’ve done something just right,” Caspian says.
“I’m happy for you both, of course, but I was worried that he was wrong, and it was something bad, and you disappeared with Coriakin…”
“We’re fine,” Caspian assures her.
Lucy smiles. “Well, I’m glad.”
Edmund turns to Caspian, then. “You know, if Eustace knows, the entire ship will know before we even get back.”
“I don’t mind that one bit,” Caspian says.
“I don’t, either, but some of the teasing will be relentless.”
“I’m up for it if you are.”
Edmund leans in and kisses him. “What do you think?”
That night, when they go to bed, they sleep next to each other. Caspian settles himself in so that his head is on Edmund’s chest. Edmund strokes his golden hair and revels in the warmth and closeness. The red string catches in the light of the fire.
It occurs to Edmund that they can spend all of their nights like this, curled up together. Surely their hammocks will support two. No one aboard the Dawn Treader will mind if the two kings sleep together. In fact, Edmund rather suspects they’ll be going back to a celebration.
He can’t wait.